I need your Input, How Worried Should I Be Based on my MRI?

Published Dec 21, 2005

1 Post

Hi,

I am a RN and have been home from work now for 10 days due to sudden severe pain in my right hip, radiating down my right leg with numbness along the front of my right leg down the calf. The pain has been so severe that I could not make it a few feet without crying. The first day it hit me I literally crawled back to the living room from my kitchen cause I could not stand up. The pain actually started from a bout of intestinal virus and a 2 hour stint in the bathroom. After the 2 hours my stomach was better but I could hardly walk.

The pain has subsided somewhat now with chiropractic care and non steroidal anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers, along with percocet and ultracet. However today is honestly the first day I have had in almost 2 weeks that I can make it across the floor without excruciating pain.

I just got back my MRI results and even as a nurse am not sure how concerned I should be in a chance of serious consequences like not being able to walk or becoming paralyzed or something. I realize those things are rare but then again I never had this kind of pain before. I have known for 20 years that I have DDD subsequent to an old MVA when I was in my 20s and have not been a stranger to pain as I have been living and working with the pain all this time.

But if you can not walk, how can you work? I presently work in home health at a local health department and am limited to how many hours I can take off without being in severe financial trouble. So I am at this point so worried about my immediate future.

The worry has tripled with the fact that it will be almost a month before I can see a neurologist and thereby, to talk with someone who actually knows. This also means that if I can possibly make it, I will probably have to go back to work before I see the neurologist.

Thus my delimna. I do not know if I should start calling and try to find another neurologist on my own who can see me sooner or try to chill out and just get to feeling well enough to walk.

I am continuing in the mean time to see the chiropractor who does think that he can help me if I can be patient.

Here are my basic MRI results:

Findings: Spinal Cord termination is normal. There is a loss of the normal lumbar lordosis with straightening of the spine. There is minimal anterolisthesis of L3, on L4 and L4 on L5. No suggestion for pars defects. This may be positional but there does appear to be a mild leftward convexity scoliosis centered at the L2-3 level. ( this curvature is much more prominent in the xrays with me standing)

L1-2 demonstrates a diffuse disc bulge with facet arthropathy which is worse on the right. This results in moderate right foraminal narrowing and mild canal compromise. Left formaminal narrowing is minimal.

L2-3 demonstrates a diffuse disc bulge with facet arthorpathy which is worse on the right. This results in moderate right foraminal stenosis. There is mild left foraminal compromise. Canal stenosis is mild.

L3-4 demonstrates a minimal anterolisthesis of L3 on L4 This is likely secondary to facet arthropahty. There is mild canal and bilateral foraminal narrowing.

L4-5 demonstrates a minimal anterolisthesis of L4 on L5 likely secondary to facet arthropathy. There is a flattening of the ventral subarachnoid space with mild bilateral formaminal narrowing.

L5-S1 demonstrates the most apparent degerative disc height loss. There is mild facet degeneration at this level left greater than right. There is moderate left and mild right foraminal stenosis. No signifcant overall canal stenosis.

Impression: Multilevel degenerative lumbar spondylosis perhaps with a mild leftward convexity scoliosis. Degrees of canal and foraminal stenosis are described above.

My pain has all be in the right hip and right leg and the numbness.

So please tell me what you think. Should I be on the phone trying to find someone to see sooner than 4 weeks from now? Or should I just relax with the help of the chiropractor and try to get back to work in a week or so

It is not helping that we are very short on help at work right now and my boss makes me feel like that she is not terribly sympathetic to me being out at this point.

Help someone just tell me how worried I should be.

Thanks so much

Karen in NC